


Fire meets Fire

by lostinthebluestorm



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 19:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21020993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinthebluestorm/pseuds/lostinthebluestorm
Summary: Kala is a friend of the family, but she doesn’t meet Sam until now, at Cassie’s birthday. A lot of things will make the two of them very close and he doesn’t dislike that.





	1. Chameleon, part I

The girl were walking to your home, where she’s been living for a few months. It was a pretty good one, she have her room and your big brother has another for his own, more than the two of them had in the past since… Well, since shit happens. 

Everything could be different if she has made anything, but… She couldn’t. Her big sister is gone, Her father is dead and her mother was dead since she were born. 

But everything is okay, right? She has a good job now taking pictures for a big magazine and a house. And also, on top of that, she is making friends! Since when do she have friends? That’s a big step for her, because she’s afraid of having any kind of relationship with anyone. She doesn’t want to lose more people… But, again, shit happens and now she’s friends with that lovely family. 

Once the girl reached her home, she left her backpack in the floor and went to the kitchen, grabbing a Coke in the fridge and throwing her keys on the table. She sat on the countertop, drinking while looking through the big window that it was on her right side. 

“It looks like it’s going to rain…” she said, with a big smile on her face. 

The dark-haired girl decide to take a picture of the sky, so she catch her camera from her backpack and sat on the window, making some pictures of the sky, because the colours… They were beautiful at that time. But they were even more beautiful where she was the last time she did her last job… Ah, the view from the mountain, the wood under her… Just she and the nature, with her beautiful and magnificent treasure… 

‘But you can’t go back and do that job. You decided to stop and make a normal life… For you and your brother.

Someone was calling her and her thoughts were cut for a few moments. Moments, yes, because she can’t stop thinking about the last time. 

“Yes?” The girl said, knowing the person who was calling you: Elena.

“Hey, buddy! How are you? I didn’t see you in a while and I wanted to ask you how you’ve been… I was worried, you know…”  
  


“Oh, sorry. I was working a lot these past days and I couldn’t talk to you. The magazine wanted a lot of photos of the New York Fashion Week and I had to flight there… Sorry, Lena…” you left out a sigh and close your eyes, knowing that you were ALMOST lying. 

Yes, she was at the Fashion Week making photos.

Yes, she was working on the photos you took.

But that wasn’t the only thing she was making. 

“Is everything okay?” Elena asked, with a bit of sadness in her voice.

“Yeah, everything is okay. What about you and the cutie?” The young girl asked politely, but in the end she wanted to know about Cassie, the little girl who took your heart. Yeah, maybe she wasn’t THAT LITTLE KNOW, but when she met them… She was sooo little and sooo cute. 

“Well, she wants to see you. She missed you… Will you join us tonight? C’mon… Free food, laughs and where the night guides you. What do you think?” She knew she was smiling and even made a wink. She knows her.

And Elena knows she can’t say no to that plan.

“I’m afraid right now… ‘Where the night guides you’? What are you talking about? Are you going to finally say that you’re in love with me and leave your husband for me? Is that what you said?” The girl were smiling right now, joking obviously. Yeah, Elena is very beautiful, but the dark-haired girl know that she can’t have anything with her. She deeply loves Nate, that dumbs friend of her.

“HEY! I’M LISTENING” And here he was, screaming from the other side of the phone.

“Hey, she didn’t say no yet… Maybe I’m not saying a lie… Sorry, I guess? I’m better that you and you know that, buddy. I’m gonna stealth your girl one day, you know that…” She laughed a bit after that, Elena did the same at the other side of the phone. 

“Well, are you coming or not? Today is a special day and you know that…” he said, softly.

“Technically is tomorrow, you dumb ass… And of course I’m going. And I’m going to wear the most beautiful clothes you ever seen, Nate, because I want to say without words ‘Your girl calls me mommy too’, you know…” they laughed so hard, making Elena drop the phone. 

“Oops, sorry” still laughing, she catches the phone again. “We see you at eight, okay?”

“Okay, okay. I get it. I see you all at eight”

The call ended and she looked at the time on her phone, realizing that it was six o’clock and she has to make a lot to things before going to their house, which it was a bit far from hers. 

“Okay, I don’t know what I should wear…” she said while she cleaned a bit her home and, specially, her room, then opening her wardrobe. 

Almost everything there was black and she didn’t know if she should wear more black. Okay, she can wear it whenever she wants because it fits with everything but- She had a dilema. 

“Well, maybe I should take a bath first and then I will thinks about that I’m going to wear…” 

As she said, she went to the bathroom and took a long _but no-so-long_ bath. She wanted that her bad thoughts would end in the same place as that water, but she knew they couldn’t. The girl finished and then she ran to her room, where she ended up with a[ strange outfit.](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.es%2Fpin%2F755549274965190640%2F&t=Y2VlNjU1ZjE2ZjczNzg2NTg1NTJkNWJhMmRkNGMyZGVmOTVjNzllNixmMjQyMmI4MjBhNTNhOGFlYjc4MjllNDdhMzcxYzg2MDVkZWNkNzNl) ‘Yeah, definitely this SCREAMS ‘your girls calls me mommy too… Nate will hate me for the rest of his life’.

She saw her phone again and saw a text of the dumb ass asking where she was and the girl realized what time it was. Almost the eight o’clock. And she was at her home yet. Shi—

She ran and caught her things before left her home, leaving a note to her brother on the fridge.

‘HEEEEEY. CASSIE BIRTHDAY!! WITH THEM’

She drove as fast as she could in her car to their place, saying some bad words. Yes, she’s the worst person for making them wait for her. 

Yeah. 

Definitely. 

After a few minutes, the girl finally were at their house. She ran to their front door after left her car with the present. Knocking the door, the dark-haired girl were bitting her lower lip and making a cute face. She was three minutes late. 

Just.   
  


Three.   
  


Minutes.  
  


But the person who opened the door wasn’t Elena. Or Nate. Or even Cassie.

It was someone she didn’t meet, but she heard about him before. 

  
“Oh, hi” he said, with a big smile on his face. A _cute_ smile, by the way. “You must be…” he tried to make that he didn’t know your name, but he did know. His family talked about her a lot.

“Kala, my name is Kala. You must be…” Kala did the same, trying to follow his game.

“Sam, you can call me Sam” and there it was that smile on his face.

“Nice to meet you, Sam. I finally meet you in person after all this years…”

“You already made that you didn’t know me, _mommy_…” Shit, he heard her on the phone.

“And you made the same. Maybe I should punish you, _pirate_...” She winked and stepped inside the house, leaving him speechless.

She just wanted to know how is going to end that night, for sure… 

‘Ganesa, please, be good with me…’


	2. Chameleon, part II

Kala stepped inside the house, leaving Sam speechless in the front door. He’s not going to make you blush so easily, that wasn’t your style. 

“Kalaaaaaaaaa” A cute voice screamed her name and the girl already knew who was the person: Cassie. 

The dark-haired girl hid the present behind the sofa. Yes, it was in a box, but… she didn’t have to know it yet. 

“My beautiful monkey!” She said and hugged the girl who was running to her with a smile. 

After her, Elena stood with another smile, ready to hug her. Kala hugged the youngest and kissed her cheek multiple times before did the same with Elena. 

“My _mommy_…” She said and Kala punched her softly in her arm, a stupid smile on her face. 

“Come on, this shirt screams that and you know it…” The girl winked with a very beautiful smile on her face too. 

“If I don’t love him… I would fall for you and you know that” She touched her nose, still smiling. 

“Well, at least you still love me, so… Sorry, Kala” Said Nate, who came. 

“I will fight for your love, Elena, I promise…” She put a hand on her heart, making a serious face to make more dramatic the scene. 

“Okay…? I think I missed a lot…” Sam said, looking at them without understand anything. “Is this normal?” He asked his niece, saying yes her with her head. “Okay… I won’t ask” 

“It’s not what it looks, Sam…” 

“I won’t have anything with her… Well, all of us know that no one can beat this stupid over there. And I don’t know what he has, seriously, I’m better than him and all of us know that too. BUT, she’s totally in love with this dork” Kala said, looking at Elena and Nate. “It’s a pity, I’m better in all ways…” she winked and now was Elena who punched her in Kala’s arm. 

“What?” Asked Cassie, without understand, looking at them all. 

“Come on, Sully is waiting” Said Elena quickly, because it wasn’t the right time to talk about that kind of things with her. 

“Oh, the man of my dreams…” Kala continued with the dramatic aura and Cassie laughed. “Come on, buddy” She opened her arms, waiting Cassie to jump and take her to where the oldest where. 

“Hey, kid” sully said with a smile on his face, hugging Kala and Cassie when he saw them two. “I heard you and stop saying that kind of things. I’m glad, but I’m too old for you…”

“Well, I’m an archeologist, not a paleontologist…” Sam started to laugh when she said that and Kala smiled. 

He has a _cute_ laugh.

“Okay, let’s eat before kill anyone, okay?” Elena looked at Kala with a serious face.

“What? I won’t kill anyone… Not now.” She winked before she left Cassie on the floor. 

Sully sat down around the table, smoking as always. Kala and Sam wanted to help, but Elena refused.

“Sit down, it’s nothing… Nate will help me, right?” 

“…Okay?”

“Oh, cowboy, you did something really bad… I can feel it in the water” Kala sat down while she was saying that, seeing that Sam was sitting next to her.

“Something really bad…” He said, smiling. “So archeologist, uh? I couldn’t tell…”

“Yeah, I am… And that’s a mistake, you know, that people always do. You can’t assume what I like or what I’m going to do, I can surprise you”

“Yeah.. You are surprising me…” He winked at Kala and she just smirked at that. 

“Uncle Sammy! Will you read me a book tonight? Come on… You didn’t read me a book!”

“That’s not true. I read books for you whenever I can…”

“Wait. Are you replacing me?” Kala said, mouth opened. “I feel betrayed…” She put a hand on her heart again and Cassie ran towards her, trying to hug her but Kala refused. “No, no… Go with _Uncle Sammy_. Now he’s going to read all the books in the world…” The girl looked at him with a mad face.

Sam raised his arms, letting you know he was innocent and didn’t make anything bad. 

“I will be glad if I read her all the books in the world… It’s not my problem, you know, that you can’t read as well as me…”

Oh.

He wanted to fight.

So here came _war_.

“Excuse me, sir? How an old man like you read better than me? Come on! A _mummy_ can’t read as well as a goddess like me…” 

“A _goddess_? Come on! You’re more like… a Petra.”

Wow. That was unexpected. He knew about that kind of creature of her culture. 

“Petra? Seriosly? I’m more like… Lakshmi. This beautiful hair, this beautiful smile… Come on, I can’t be like a Petra.”

The rest of them were eating, watching them fight. It was funny, because Kala wasn’t the type of person who can make that kind of jokes with a person she already met. But they knew that Sam had this… _charm_, this special thing. 

“In your dreams, Petra.”

“In yours, Akhenaten. Wait, not, or you’ll like it… Ugh, no.” She shivers at the thought of that.

But… That mummy had _those_ arms… 

Oh. My. Ganesha. 

His veins are marked.

‘DON’T THINK LIKE THAT ABOUT HIM. DON’T

JUST. 

DON’T.

SHIT.

IS HE LOOKING AT ME WITH THAT STUPID SMILE?

SHIT’

“_Preferiría soñar con otras cosas más agradables, sinceramente…_” (I’d rather dream of other more pleasant things, honestly…) Said Sam, thinking that no one would understand him, smiling. 

“_Sería lo mejor que te pasase en mucho tiempo, Tito Sammy…_” (It would be the best thing that happened to you in a long time, Uncle Sammy). Kala smiles brightly, looking at his confused face. “What? I know a few languages… One of them is Spanish, _querido_.” (Darling)

“She had told you, Sam… You can’t assume her. Its a box full of surprise…” Elena looked at him with a big smile on her face. 

“Okay? Petra can speak a few languages…”

“I’m a woman of the world…” She winked before started to finally eat. 

The rest of the dinner went really well. Cassie was sitting between Kala and Sam, trying to make them to feel okay at the same time because she was taking care of one of them more than the other, so no bad feelings between them all. But, in the end, that didn’t matter to Kala. She understood that he is her uncle and she was nothing more like a friend. She couldn’t be mad at that, it was impossible to be mad at Cassie. She was so cute…

When they finished with the food, Elena made a gesture with her head to Nate and the lights went off after a few moments. Elena showed up with a big cake for Cassie, with seven candles above it. 

“Happy birthday to you…” They started to sing, looking at the little girl. She was going to cry because she didn’t knew about all that and… Cassie started to cry while she was smiling. She blew out the candles.

“Seven years… Oh my God, I feel old…” Sam said, letting out a sigh.

“Come on, kid, so what am I?” Said Sully, looking at same with a eyebrow raised.

“You’re a dinosaur and he’s a mummy.” Kala said softly before going for the present. “Cassie, I have something for you…”

“I want to see!!” Excited, Cassie took the present and opened it. Inside were a book about pirate women_. “_PIRATE WOMEEEEN!! AAAAH I LOVE IT!” The little one ran towards her and hugged her tightly. “THANK YOU SO MUCH, KALA.”

Elena looked at her with a strange look and Kala shrugged.

“What? I talked with her about Anne Bonny and she wants to know more about her and other pirate women… I give her a book to start…” 

“Yes, mom… We talked about pirates the last time and she told me about her… Are you mad?”

“No, darling…” Elena reached down to take her daughter in her arms. “I’m just surprised. I didn’t know you were interested in that kind of things…”

“Yeah, why didn’t you ask me?” Said Nate, looking as surprised as Elena.

“Because I didn’t know you know about this things… And Kala always talk with me about History and tell me a lot of things. Sorry…”

“You don’t have to say sorry, darling. It’s okay. Do you want to read this book with me?” Sam talked now, as excited as Cassie about the book. 

“YES! And… can we read it with her? Maybe she can tell us more about them…” Cassie pointed at Kala, who was looking at Sam.

“Of course, honey.” He smiled, looking at her. “Only if a _goddess_ wants to read with a _mummy like me_…”

“I’ll read with a mummy because of her. Don’t think otherwise” Kala pointed at Sam with a serious face. 

He raised his hands, showing again those arms and _those_ veins. 

_Shit_.

“Okay, Lakshmi, don’t kill me. Elena would be sad if you screw up the carpet with my blood…”

“I’m watching you, _pirate_…” 

“It’s better if we don’t piss her off, she has a bad temper…” Cassie said and Kala looked at her with surprise.

“HEY! I don’t have _bad_ temper… I’m just special, you know, when someone piss me off.” The dark-haired girl smiled brightly, like she didn’t break anything in her whole life. 

“Yeah… Whatever you say…” Elena laughed before saying that.

The rest of them gave her her presents and she had the same reaction. Sully bought her some clothes and notebooks, as well as gave her a picture of them together. Nate and Elena gave her a lot of things: clothes, a teddy bear and some other toys. Sam, because he was like that, bought her a t-shirt like his.

“What? Now we can be twins.” He said in his defense. “Come on, I gave her books too… Why can’t I gave her a t-shirt like mine?”

Elena and Nate didn’t say anything, they just laughed. 

The rest of the meeting went REALLY well after that, as well as before. It went better when you and Sam read the book to Cassie and she started to ask about pirates and more, because Kala saw how much Sam knew about that, but not as much as her and they had a little conversation about them… And at that time, Cassie was sleeping because she didn’t understand a lot and was a bit bored. Just a bit, she said she was going to study about pirates tomorrow.

Kala left her room and went to the front door, where she said goodbye to Sully. He said he had _business_ to do that night… And all of them knew what kind of business he was talking about. The Indian girl wanted to help Elena and Nate after that, but the blonde gave her the same look as before, so she stayed outside.

“What a lovely dinner, right?” Sam talked as he stopped beside you, looking for his lighter.

“Are you looking for this?” Kala said, showing him his lighter. She was using it to light a cigarette for her.

“Oh, yeah. How…?”

“You dropped the lighter in Cassie’s bed…” Kala was lying, she had taken it off without his noticing.

“_Fallo mío…_” (My fault…) Sam did the same with one of his cigarettes. “So… Pirates, uh?”

“Yeah… I like pirates. A lot” She leaned on the porch railing to look at him with a playful smile. 

“I couldn’t tell…”

“Come on, why?”

“Because… _Tu carita es como una rosa sin abrir_… You look too young to like that kind of things” (Your face is like a closed rose…)

She punched him in his arm and Kala could feel how strong they were. 

“AUCH” Kala put her hand on his mouth, breaking the distance between them. She looked at his beautiful eyes.

“Cassie is sleeping and if you wake her up, I drown you in the sea, _pirata_…” Kala removes her hand from her mouth and takes a step back, putting distance between them.

Sam said nothing, could not, was fascinated with the color of her eyes, with her whole face, with the dark color of her skin… With her, with the distance she had taken without him saying so. Oh, how much he hated that she had separated and put her hand in his mouth…

“Good boy…” She said, smiling brightly. Kala knew what he was thinking, because a lot of people did in the past the same after she broke the distance between them. But right now, that didn’t end in a kiss. ‘What a pity…’

“So-Sorry… I forgot.”

“Yeah, I know…” 

“And…” He said, after a few second trying to get his shit together. “Archeologist?”

“Yeah… I am. I like being with people older than me, so… I am an archeologist.” He laughed a bit, looking at her with a smirk. “What? It’s true… I ended up with people older than me…” Kala finished her cigar and put it out in the ashtray, then approached Sam with a smirk. She let the smoke go slowly, then spoke. “_Me gustan mayores…_” She winked before going inside to say goodbye to Elena and Nate.

‘You’re playing with fire, Sam… And you know how much you want to play with it.’ He thought, looking at her from his position outside. ‘She’s going to drive you crazy…’ 

“Goodbye, _pirate_…” The Indian girl said when she approached Sam to say goodbye, leaving a kiss on his cheek, touching his arms softly. 

“Goodbye, _mommy_…” He said softly, watching at her go. 

Sam put the cigar in the ashtray before going inside the house. He put his hands in the pockets of his pants and found something in one of them. A note from Kala, where was her phone number.

‘Are you now Radha and I’m Krishna?’ He said to himself, laughing a bit.

“Hey, pirate, what happens?” Elena asked him, worried.

“Oh, nothing… Don’t worry, Elena. I’m good… I’m very good right now…”


	3. Grey

The days had passed since the last time they met and Kala didn’t have any text or call of Sam. The girl thought that maybe he was just busy, as Elena always said, but that wasn’t entirely true. Sam saw her phone number and saved in his phone, but… some thoughts were playing with him and he didn’t text her yet.

‘Come on, she’s just… their friends and you don’t want to mess that friendship, right?’ 

That was the smoothest, then the worse came to him while he was sleeping or just trying to find something to do. Yes, he had to go with Sully again, but… He was bored almost all the time when he was alone.

Well, not bored.

He was sad.

So sad. 

The man was always thinking about how his life would be if he didn’t end up in that stupid jail after Rafe fucked up everything. Would he have a family like Nate? Would he be the most famous thief of all the times? Would he find more treasures than her brother? Would he…?

Sam couldn’t know anything of that, he didn’t have a time machine. But, for sure, he knows one: he didn’t want anyone to be around a person like him.

‘I am a criminal after all and she’s a good person… I’m doing bad things… I killed people. I was in jail. I steal treasures around the world… I lie, I am a very good liar… I had scars around my body, some of them people can’t see… and all because I have chosen this life. I can’t be with a person and have this chaotic life. This life is too dangerous.’

Sam went outside and looked at the sea, feeling the cold in his skin. He lighted up a cigar and took a big puff. The sky was getting as grey as his thoughts, as grey as him. Grey, after all, was his colour. You just have to watch his soul to see it. 

‘I have a lot of enemies around the world and I am afraid of loosing the people I love already. How can I be with someone if I don’t know if they will be alive after I finish with another treasure? They, definitely, would catch the people I love and use them for blackmail me… I already am afraid of loosing Nate, Elena, Sully and Cassie… I’m afraid of not see them again and again because someone take them and kill them because of me… I am afraid of the world, after all. They took me and I don’t want to them to take my family… they have my soul, I lost it in Panama… I can’t save myself right now, so I have to protect them at all cost with all I have –nothing, really, I really have nothing… and all I can do is go on an adventure again and again and not settle down, avoiding them as much as I can… Maybe it’s not the best way to protect them, but… Nate deserves this life, not me. I am the fucking Devil himself and I just deserve fire’

The water touched his feet and took him back to reality. Sam stopped smoking and went inside again. He saw from his position a cute Cassie and Nate drawing some in some papers. He could just smile at the view.

‘I can’t protect them if I stay here for a long time… My destiny is to be around the world, alone most of the time and just fill this emptiness with treasures, alcohol, cigarettes and one night with a person I already met... I don’t deserve a family like Nate’s, I don’t deserve to be loved like him. I don’t deserve to be happy like him, I just deserve to live in that constant Panama jail… it’s what I deserve, because I am grey and they are a beautiful yellow. He can’t lose this happiness because of his stupid brother… He almost lost all this because of me… After all, he made a life without me and he can continue to do that… I’m not really important, right? I missed a lot of years beside Nate… He definitely didn’t miss me as much as I think, right? He went on a lot of adventures, found a incredible woman and he has a family with her… I didn’t even be a figure to look at for him… He has Sully, a good man after all… I am no one in his story, right? I’m just the stupid brother nobody cares about…’

He sighed and tried to make a beautiful smile to them. They didn’t have to know what was going on in his mind all the time he saw them… right? They were better if they didn’t know all his shit. His damn shit. They would live better.

“Sorry for breaking the moment, but I have to go now…” Sam walking to his brother and hugged him tightly before did the same with Cassie. Elena entered the room after hearing him and Sam just hugged her as well.

“Do you really has to go, Uncle Sammy? Who will read me books all nights?” Cassie asked, with sadness in her voice and face.

“You can call Kala, darling. I know she can read you books as well as me…” Sam smile softly at his niece. “She’s very good at it, I can tell.”

“Okay… But one day, you and her, has to read me a book together like the last time, okay?”

“Okay, little star… I promise” Sam hugged her again.

He took his things and hugged Elena and Nate for the last time in a while. He was going on another adventure, waiting to see them after find it. They want them to be happy and not being around it was all he can gave them, right? He can do anything more…

He was the Devil after all and all he deserved is Fire.

He was grey and they were a beautiful yellow… 

He was no one.


	4. Samosas

Kala was in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India, for a few hours. Once she arrived, she went to the hotel, left her things next to her bed and went straight out to take a shower and then search for Sam in her laptop. 

And that was where she was, sitting in a chair and searching for Sam using his mobile number. It was a bit easier this time, just took her less than an hour to find him. He was in the State Central Library, probably looking for more information about the temple.

“Okay, pirate… Just wait for me, okay?” She said to herself, closing her laptop after ending all the connections and taking security precautions. Kala didn’t want to be localized, so she took care of that. And of course she launched some applications on her mobile phone in case Sam could think of changing position.

The dark-haired girl put on a pant styled [sari](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2F96%2Fa0%2F1d%2F96a01d027515d4732d4e94e4140ae07b.jpg&t=ZTkyMGE2ZjgzZjdkOTkxOWY1OWYzODFjN2Y0YmNmYjkyYWE1YmI4MSxiOTJLZWZ5YQ%3D%3D&b=t%3ALIH8sq6XNTD5o6ORbGRhQA&p=https%3A%2F%2Fbluxstorm.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F188748878251%2Ffire-meets-fire-chapter-iv-samosas&m=1) and covered her head with the end of it. Kala didn’t want to be recognized so easy by him, so that was the best idea right now with all she had in that room. She had to buy more Indian clothes, for sure. ‘Maybe some day I can come back and watch my country with other eyes…’ It was where she lost her family, where she had to enter to that world. Where her nightmares started to be her punishment. 

She left the room and started to walk to the library. From time to time, Kala looked at her phone to make sure Sam didn’t change his position. It could be a pain in the ass if he wanted to go to another place or if he takes a taxi to go to the other side of the city. She decided to take a taxi to go to the place quickly, just in case.

Once Kala arrived at the building, she just smiled a bit at the view. For her, it was a cute construction and had a beautiful tones of colours. The Indian woman paid the conductor and entered the library, trying to find him.

Sam was in the Reference area, looking at some books with a worried look. ‘I don’t fucking understand so much of this job… I think I made a big mistake coming, huh?’ His thought stopped when someone grabbed him by his arm and put their head on his shoulder. Sam looked at the person, who was a girl in a sari, with which she was covering her face.

“Excuse me…?” He started to say, but stopped realizing that maybe the person couldn’t understand him. 

“There’s my beautiful husband…” Kala said and winked. The girl decided to show a bit of her face to make sure he recognized her and that he won’t start to make a big fuss because of her. 

“What the…?” She put a finger over his lips to stop him.

“You told me this morning we were going to make some tourism and have lunch together…” Kala accentuated her accent. “Did you forget it, my beautiful _laddoo_?” The woman smiled brightly at him.

Sam realized that two men were looking at them and found why she was acting like that. He left the books in the shelves and decided to follow her actuation. 

“It’s true! Oh, darling, sorry… I almost forgot… Yes, let’s go… It’s getting late and we have to see a lot of things…” He made sure the grip was strong and decided to go out with her from the library. Yes, Sam needed information, but was dangerous at the time to be there and maybe Kala knew something about the temple. “Where should we start? Maybe we should eat something and look around, huh?”

“That’s the best idea you ever have, _baba_…” 

“One day, you have to tell me what all that means, you know?” He said, walking with her without an exactly direction once they left the building. They had to mislead those men and those who were possibly following them at the time. They shouldn’t get in trouble, not for now.

“Study the languages of India and you’ll know…” She laughed a bit and looked around. Kala saw a street food stall and decided to go with Sam there. “Come on, you have to try these… They’re delicious…” 

“What are their names?” Sam asked, looking at the triangular and chubby baked pasty. 

“Samosas” she said before ordering four for them in Malayalam. Sam looked at her with a strange look, because he didn’t understand what she was talking at the moment. “What?” She said, paying the man.

“What language did you just speak?” He was smiling. Sam took, as he could, the food while she kept her money in a pocket she seemed to have somewhere.

“Malayalam. It’s the official language of this region. It’s one of the Dravidian languages, which are spoken mainly in Southern India and northern Sri Lanka. Telugu is the most spoken, then we have Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. There are a lot of others, but those are the most spoken of them.” She bit the samosa, realizing that she released a lot of information that Sam probably wouldn’t mind. Maybe it was a big mistake.

“And you speak all of them or what?” He asked, bitting his samosa as well. It was stuffed with potatoes and… Wait, how many spices did that carry and why did it bite so much? Sam stopped and bought two bottles of water. “Oh, Lord, this is…”

“Too much for your sweet tongue?” She made fun of him and laughed a bit. “Come on, it’s okay… Didn’t you try one of these when you were here?” Sam looked at her with surprise in his face. “Don’t look at me like that, Elena told me.”

“Elena told you a lot about me…” He said softly and started to walk aways. Kala walked again, next to him.

“Not all. She said just the necessary to find you… And just what she and Nate know. I’m sure there’s a Sam that they don’t know, just as we don’t know the Elena and the Nate that they hide. There is always something new to know about other people, we never give all the information… Or am I wrong?” She asked, bitting again the samosa. Sam looked at her with a serious face. “Come on, ask me and I’ll tell you something about me… Information for information, huh? It’s a fair deal, my _lovely_ husband…” Kala winked, trying to make him laugh or smile a bit. 

And she succeeded. Sam smiled a bit.

“Okay… Let’s start with the question that I made you before I bit this… thing.” Sam took a different street, walking at a normal pace. Not fast, so as not to attract attention; but neither slow, so that he did not give them time to catch them. 

“No, I just know a few of them. I just had to left the country and I decided to learn about other languages. Let’s say… I just know like… Twelve modern languages? Latin, Greek and other dead languages aside.”

“Wow. How? I mean, you must be very smart to know a lot of languages.” 

“My father taught me some of them, the rest I learnt it for the jobs I had in the past…” She finished the first samosa. “And I’m no very smart, you know, I married you.”

“Oh, come on. I’m not a bad husband… It could be worse, you know.” He complained, but he was smiling. 

“It can’t be worse than this, you know… You have forgotten that we were going to eat together and see the city…”

“I’m trying my best, you know?” Sam finished his meal and drank his entire bottle of water. A trickle of water fell down his face and went down his throat, losing itself in the opening of his white shirt. Kala realized this and followed the path, having a series of thoughts that she tried to stop at those moments. “What?” He smirked, knowing what she was looking at.

“If you’re really trying your best, I’d rather be in Naraka.” And she walked away, finishing her meal as well and drank some water. 

“Oh, come on… Don’t get angry, okay? I’ll show you something as a reward…” He took her hand and changed the direction of her steps. “But let’s do some exercise to lower the food, don’t you think?” He winked and Kala smiled. 

“Let’s do it…”

Kala looked back and saw those men again, although they were accompanied by two others.

“We have company… A great incentive for us to run, don’t you think?” She smiled brightly before grabbing Sam’s hand tightly and running out of there with him.

As expected, those men started to run behind them. 

Kala pulled Sam to a street where there were more people than there. It was more than likely that they were slow, but the others too… And if she was lucky, she could get some clothes along the way and thus hide Sam’s clothes and those of herself. That will have to be worth it for now, right?

“Over here…” she said, trying to break through the people there.

There were street stalls in the area, but Kala didn’t see any that sold clothes or fabrics. She bit her lower lip, trying to gain some time. The woman looked back and saw that they were approaching, which made her even more nervous.

Sam pulled her to go to a side street, moving away from people to go faster. Maybe it wasn’t the best, but they had nothing better to do. Kala looked at the rooftops and saw that they could climb over some ledges, so she released Sam and ran off towards them, jumping to reach them and climb. Seeing this Sam, the man tried to imitate her… But he almost fell. Almost, if it wasn’t because Kala grabbed him and tried to help him.

A few steps approached, both could hear it.

“Come on…” she said, using all her strength to help Sam as quickly as possible.

Sam went up, but the fabric of her sari stayed hooked and he had to break it in order to continue running on the rooftops.

“I’ll buy you another one, but run,” Sam said, taking her hand again to run.

Kala listened to the voices behind them and understood that they were trying to clim to the rooftops, so she tried to tell Sam with gestures, so they wouldn’t hear them. But she saw that he didn’t understand her, so the woman ended up talking.

“They are trying to climb!” The Indian girl raised her voice a little.

At that time, a shot was heard in the distance and both tried to avoid it.

More shots in the direction they were.

Kala approached the nearest ledge crawling and saw what was underneath. Luckily, an open window. She tied what was left of the area she used as a veil on a ledge and gestured for Sam to approach where she was hiding.

The men approached and kept firing at them, although it seemed that they had no intention of killing them. 

Not yet.

“I jump first just in case, then you go” Kala’s eyes reflected some concern, but she didn’t hesitate much longer. “Don’t die, okay? I will be very sad if you die”

Sam didn’t have time to stop her. Kala jumped and tried to get inside the building.

Closer shots were heard…

And then _silence_.


	5. Lahu Munh Lag Gaya

Kala looked at the window, heart beating fast. Her face was painted with concern, she really didn’t know if Sam was okay or if he died with those shots. Approaching the window, the woman prepared herself to fight in case one of those men went to catch her. 

‘You shouldn’t do this… But you have to make sure Sam goes down…’ Told herself, leaving a sight after. 

But she couldn’t look, Sam went down and looked at her with concern too. The man had the veil in one of his hands. With the other, he took her by the hand and started to move away of the window. The woman looked at him and saw new scars, some of them bleeding a bit. 

“We should leave right now, we will take care of the scars later.” She said, walking fast at his side. “But, you can’t leave the building like this. People will see and they will call the police.” 

Fortunately, that building had lift and they stepped inside. 

“I know this is a bad idea, because we are trapped here, but… I gain some time to cover you a bit.” Kala broke the veil and cleaned the blood that came out of some wounds, which luckily did not need to be covered... But there was one that did and she could not think of a better idea than to surround that area with another piece of it. “That could work… Yes, for now…” She told herself and tried to calm down a bit. 

“This is not your field, huh?” He mocked and laughed a bit.

“I used to be with the computers most of the time, you know? All this shooting thing… Nope, not for me.” The woman took him by the hand and left the lift once they reached the main floor. “Let’s go, I know where we can go for a few hours.”

“I need my stuff, you know?”

“Yes, honey, we will take them later…” She smiled at him brightly. “But first let’s take a walk.” 

“Okay?” The couldn’t say no, her eyes were killed him at the moment. 

The both of them left the building. They wandered again, luckily this time it seemed that nobody was following them.

By the time it was night, they arrived at the hotel where Kala was staying. They entered the room and she locked the door, as a precaution, before inspecting that no one else was in the place. They needed a few moments to speak alone, cure him and let Nate and Elena know they were alive. And, most importantly, she was with Sam.

"Ok, sit on the bed for a second... I'm going to heal you properly. I have some things…" She searched through her things and took out a first aid kit. Sam sat on the edge of the bed and took off his shirt, so she could see the wounds better.

"I didn't think I was going to use it, but..." Kala got up looking at the box, with her back to him. "But it will do, you have nothing serious..." She turned to look at him and was a little surprised to see him that way. "Well, so better, I can see everything better now..." The woman hurried to say, sitting close to him after taking a chair. "Stay, okay?" Kala was afraid of hurting him, that it wasn't going to help him and that they had to go to the hospital. She didn't know if her contacts were still running in that city, but she hoped she wouldn't have to use them.

"So ... What are you doing here? Why are you looking for me? And how did you find me?" He asked, taking out a cigar with one of his hands. Quickly Kala took it off and pointed before the smoke detector started to sound. "Okay..."

"If you want to smoke, we approach the balcony." Kala said, looking sideways at Sam while she was taking the dried blood from some areas.

"That sounds really great to me." He said with a smile on his face.

The girl rose from her chair and headed to the balcony, where there was a small table and a couple of chairs. Kala left what was necessary on the table and waited for the man to sit in one of the chairs.

"Well... Answering your question, I'm here for your family. They asked me for help, they didn't know about you for a long time. And you're very easy to look for when you have an electronic device..." After saying that, Kala stopped a few seconds, completely silent.

"What happens?"

"Give me a second..." The Indian girl got up from her chair and picked up her laptop.

Her fingers moved very quickly through the keys, her eyes read through that sea of numbers and screens as if they were watching a car race... That speed surprised Sam, but he was worried somehow.

"Shit..." Finally Kala spoke and let out a sigh. "Give me a second please… That’s not okay.” 

Concern was increasing, Sam didn't know what he could do and what was happening. He feared the worst in those moments and seemed to be right when Kala spoke again, raising her eyes a few seconds from the computer screen.

"Someone got into my computer and I don't understand how. I'm very good at this... How is that possible?" Her body was tensing more and more, her breathing accelerated for seconds. She must end that threat already or they would be in danger.

The silent minutes passed again and Sam could only smoke. Cigar after cigar, strolling down the balcony of the room with hopes of having good news soon.

"Give me the hard drive in my bag. Right pocket." She specified and raised her hand when he approached it in a hurry. Kala connected it to the computer and continued her work.

More quiet, just being broken by Sam's puffs and Kala's continuous click on the computer. The city also was making noise, but both were so focused on the computer that they didn't even listen to it.

After a few more minutes, Kala disconnected the hard drive and turned off the laptop, which she left on the table to continue curing it.

"We don't have to worry about that anymore, luckily. I'm going to heal you, we take my stuff and we go again." Almost as quickly as when she used the keyboard, Kala's fingers strolled through Sam's skin to heal him and take away any remaining blood once she forced him to sit down.

"I think it's great. What are you going to do with...?" He pointed with his head at the computer and she smiled softly.

"I have a little idea... You'll see." He said, finishing covering Sam's wound. "Maybe it's better for me to change my clothes, I'll go faster with pants than with this..." She took some clothes out of her bag and quickly went into the bathroom, changing into simple jeans, a flower shirt and some boots that would allow him to move and even climb if necessary.

Sam put on his shirt while he waited for her sitting on the bed. Once she left, he made a comment.

"A pity, this bed seemed comfortable..." He sighed as he rose. He took her computer and handed it to her to keep it or do what she wanted with it.

"Well... We'll find a better one." Kala took the computer and put it in its case. Then, she finished making her bag to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous smile.

"Take it as you like, pirate..." She winked before going to the door and unlocking it.

"I'll take it as I had thought..." He went after her and made sure nothing was left inside.

"Do you think of me that way, Sam? Wow, you are a pervert, aren't you?" She became innocent, when they both knew that she wasn't after the conversation they had months ago.

They entered the elevator to go to the main floor of that hotel. No one else could be heard all over the place, just the two of them talking. The apparent tranquility of that night was being broken by the continuous flirting comments of both.

"Don't strain, Lakshmi... You have already made it quite clear that you have broken an entire tableware... Don’t come now saying that I am the only pervert here." Sam had told himself that this was not for him, that he did not deserve that kind of thing... But when she was close it seemed that all of that vanished like the smoke from his cigarettes. She had something that made him forget everything.

"In the end you admit that I am like the goddess, huh?" Kala leaned against one of the elevator walls, arms crossed over her chest and a sly smile dancing on her face.

"Don't believe it so much, huh?" He said, slowly approaching her.

As if two magnets were treated, Kala and Sam moved closer to each other while they talked.

"I have to believe myself what I am, right?"

"You are a Petra and not a goddess, let it be clear to you. You are not able to have so much beauty and to make a man like me fall for you..." He said as he plunged into her eyes again and again.

The girl, with a raised eyebrow, took Sam by the neck of his clothes and approached him until she was a few inches away.

"If it were a Petra, you would not be able to look at me as you are doing, for sure... A goddess is able to cloud your mind, just as I do right now... A goddess is able to paralyze you with a simple gesture, just as I do with you... "

Kala brought her mouth to Sam's. He did not know what to do, he had remained petrified in the place. Was she going to kiss him? There? In those moments?

The elevator stopped, had reached its destination and...

The answer was no. Not at least one kiss as such.

Kala laid a kiss on the corner of his lips and when she parted, hers were stained with a little blood.

“A goddess can taste your blood, as I do…” After saying that, the woman left the elevator once it opened the doors, removing the blood from her lips.

Sam stayed on site. He was still petrified, because it was not thought that this would end that way. He only had one thing in mind at that moment: he was not going to be left without a kiss from a goddess like her.

He looked at her from his position and was surprised to see the subtlety with the subtlety that she had changed the case of her computer with that of the executive who was in reception while she handed the key to the room. Kala had moved smoothly, only he had noticed.

"And as a goddess, you are able to move around the world as if you were the air itself..."


End file.
